1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric seat to be installed in places such as the first-class cabin of the aircraft.
2. Description of the Related Art
One example of the conventional seat to be installed in the first-class cabin of the aircraft comprises a seat cushion mounted on the frame supported on the floor so as to move in the fore-and-aft direction, a seatback supported on the rear side of the seat cushion for pivotal movement, a leg rest supported on the front side of the seat cushion for pivotal movement, and a footrest provided in the storage formed in the leg rest so as to appear and disappear (move forward and backward).
The position of such an electric seat can be changed among the normal position in which the seatback is in the near upright position and the leg rest having the footrest stored therein faces downward to the near vertical position, the reclined position in which the seatback is inclined backward (downward), and the leg rest having the footrest stored is inclined forward (upward), and the bed position where the seatback is in the near horizontal position and the leg rest with the footrest pulled out is held in a horizontal position on the level with the footrest. The seat is adapted to be changed in its position by operating the corresponding position-change switches provided on the operating panel. The position is changed in the order of the normal positionxe2x86x92the reclined positionxe2x86x92the bed position, and in reverse, in the order of the bed positionxe2x86x92the reclined positionxe2x86x92the normal position.
Incidentally, in the electric seat described above, many members such as a seatback, leg rest, and the footrest are operated, and there may be cases where these members come in contact with a person or an object when operated. For example, when the member (the seatback, the leg rest or the footrest) is operated with, for example, a person or an object placed in the operating range of the seatback, leg rest, or the footrest, a driving force of the driving means such as an electric motor for driving these members is applied to the person or the object, and may press or jam the same, which may result in lowering of safety or damage of the object.
In light of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide an electric seat in which damage of other member may be prevented so as to ensure safety.
The present invention is an electric seat comprising a seatback and a leg rest supported by a seat cushion for pivotal movement, a footrest supported for forward and backward movement with respect to the leg rest, electric motors provided for the seatback, the leg rest, and the footrest respectively for driving the same, operating direction detecting means for detecting the operating direction of at least one of the seatback the leg rest, and the footrest, consumed current detecting means for detecting a current consumed by the operation of at least one of the seatback, the leg rest, and the footrest, and determining means for comparing the operating direction detected by the operating direction detecting means with the predetermined operating direction, comparing the consumed current detected by consumed current detecting means with the predetermined reference value, and executing determination of the operating condition based on the compared results by determining whether or not an unnecessary reaction force is acting on at least one of the seatback, the leg rest, and the footrest.
Preferably, an electric seat of the present invention comprises operation-stopping means for bringing the operation of at least one of the seatback, the leg rest, and the footrest to a stop in case the determining means determines that an unnecessary reaction force is acting as the result of the determination of the operating condition by the determining means.
Preferably, an electric seat of the present invention further comprises an alarm means for generating an alarm in case an unnecessary reaction force is acting as the result of the determination of the operating condition by the determining means.